Re: Great forum

I love the smell of pine cones in the fire, also some of the gum tree wood we have around here is very aromatic. A good slow combustion stove or heater puts out very little smoke, and a great deal of heat. The one we have in our hostel is very efficient and we only need a few logs to keep it going all night. We are lucky here that we never need to heat houses during the day. Add in good roof insulation and you have a very efficient heating source.

As for gardening, you don't need a great big garden to produce a lot of food, my garden is quite small, but jam packed with food plants and fruit trees. I grow my vege in fenced off areas of the chook pen (the chickens have already prepared the soil and fertilized it for me). I also grow a lot of things in pots, I recycle the polystyrene boxes, that shop bought vege comes in, and they make light weight easily portable vege gardens.

Even if you live in the city with only a balcony, you can still grow a great deal of food in pots.

We also have a huge resurgence of community gardens in Australia, this is due in part to immigrants bringing their culture of growing their own foods to our country. These are becoming so popular in some cities, that there is a waiting list for a garden plot. I hope this is a trend that will keep growing. Do you have community gardens in the US?

Thanks again for your kind words, and your great ideas :)

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